Help with Healthcare.gov website for ACA

[LARS]

We're moving from a state with its own Exchange for ACA to a state that relies upon the Healthcare.gov site.

Are there any issues I should be aware with the Healthcare.gov site?

Is it now pretty user friendly?

Is submitting estimated MAGI a difficult process?

Any help with what to expect would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[Aerides]

I had no issues when I signed up. Pretty straight forward, no surprises. For income I was just asked for estimates.

You'll get to do it for real in a few days.

[Dtail]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerides I had no issues when I signed up. Pretty straight forward, no surprises. For income I was just asked for estimates. You'll get to do it for real in a few days.

+1
The MAGI submission is very easy. You can also speak with a rep from the exchange and they are quite helpful in signing you up.

[LARS]

Thanks for replies. I guess I still remember reading horror stories on ER forum when Healthcare.gov was first set up.

Sounds like they have gotten their act together.

[PaunchyPirate]

I will echo the comments above. It really has become a pretty decent site. In case you don’t know, you can preview plans and pricing as of today. I would suggest you do everything in preview mode even after November 1 before you actually attempt to create your account. Decide on exactly the plan that you want prior to creating the account. Then when you start creating the account and start your Application, it will walk you through whatever information it needs.

When I first signed up to years ago I had a little difficulty knowing how to answer a couple of ambiguously worded questions related to when my coverage from my employer actually ended since COBRA was available to me. I answered the questions apparently incorrectly because it indicated I was not qualified for a subsidy. I knew this was not correct so I called the helpline and explained my termination dates and situation and they changed my answers on their side and that solved the problem giving me the accurate subsidy that I knew I was entitled to. I doubt you will have that problem since you’re coming from another exchange already.

As for the estimation of your income as said above, it can be as simple as you simply enter the number and it accepts that and moves on and calculates properly. However I have read comments on various forums indicating that they had to supply documentation to prove their income level. I never had to supply anything. They never asked for it and I just entered the number and they took it.

By the way I’m going the other direction. I’ve been on the federal exchange for the last two years but will be leaving it this year to use the Pennsylvania state exchange which is new this year. So I’m a little nervous myself.

[Dtail]

In terms of supplying documentation as to proof of MAGI, I had to submit proof the first year, but not in the 2 years since. Just guessing that since my final MAGI was similar to the estimate and was in the same income range each year, they did not require proof in the subsequent years.